Can AI help give banking a more human face?

Posted on April 11th, 2017

The rise of artificial intelligence is something many banks are currently looking closely at, as the technology promising to offer a number of applications for financial firms. AI can be used to help banks gather information and improve the self-service offerings they provide to their customers.

Indeed, research from Accenture revealed almost four out of five bankers (79 percent) believe AI will revolutionize the way they interact with customers, while 76 percent agree that AI will become their primary method for engaging with customers within three years.

Some people may believe that taking interactions out of the hands of human employees and turning them over to AI algorithms will result in a less friendly, human experience. But this does not have to be the case, and in fact, Accenture suggests it could create a more human experience, as AI helps banks better understand the intentions and emotions of their customers.

More than three-quarters of respondents (78 percent) said AI will help develop simpler user interfaces that will enable banks to create a more human-like customer experience.

Alan McIntyre, a senior managing director at Accenture and head of the company’s banking practice, said the diverse needs and priorities of customers today are forcing banks to reassess how they interact with them in order to identify the best products and services to meet their individual requirements.

“AI-enabled tools can help banks identify consumer preferences and empower their workforces to react with insight and emotional intelligence, which is essential for the development of meaningful consumer relationships,” he stated.

The key to making AI a success will be to develop a solution that is able to recognize and adapt to unique customer behaviors, the report found. In an environment where the number of human touch points is falling, the quality and importance of these interactions will need to increase, and AI has a key role to play here.

For instance, one-third (34 percent) of those surveyed by Accenture said they plan to use a detailed understanding of human behavior to guide new customer experiences.